New Model Forms for Gift Aid

Changes to the Gift Aid Declaration forms, sponsor form and guidance have been made to make it easier for customers to understand their tax obligations when they make donations to a charity or Community Amateur Sports Club.

The forms are only models but declarations have to contact information such as:

The name of your charity

The donor’s name

The donor’s home address

Whether the declaration covers past, present or future donations or just one donation

A statement that the donors wants Gift Aid to apply (could be a tick box or written or online declaration)

An explanation that the donor needs to pay the same amount or more of UK income tax and/or Capital Gains Tax as all charities and CASCs will claim on the donor’s gifts in a tax year and that the donor is responsible for any difference.

So long as you have done these things, you can construct your own declaration. However, the model is one that has been approved by HMRC and if you wish to be certain that you meet the rules or you don’t have time to construct your own, you can use the model. You have till the 5th April 2016 to use up your existing stock of declarations using the old wording, but you will need to start using the new declarations from the 6th April 2016. If you do not use the correct wording your Gift Aid claims may be invalid, so don’t get caught out.

You also need to make sure that if you use any online giving platforms that you have the correct wording. Online intermediaries such as JustGiving and VirginMoney are likely to already update their websites by the end of the transition period, but if you use other bespoke portals or have your own website, make sure it is up to date.